Thelatest quarterly survey from the FinancialTimes Confidential Research showed that Vietnamese consumer sentimenttowards the economy is at a three-year high.

Illustrative image - Source: VNA

The survey of 5,000consumers across Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnamindicated that bullish Vietnamese consumers are spending more as a robusteconomy fuels growth in household incomes.

The research found youngVietnamese among the most optimistic about their country’s economic outlook,propelling the FTCR Vietnam Economic Sentiment Index to its highest level sincethe start of 2015.

It expected Vietnam toremain the fastest-growing of the region’s major developing economies thisyear. The Southeast Asian economy grew 6.8 percent last year, and the localgovernment is expecting a faster pace this year.

The report also said arelatively large, young and cheap labour pool is drawing foreign investors andturning Vietnam into a regional manufacturing hub in competition with Malaysia,Thailand and Indonesia. It noted that Samsung is the largest foreign investor,having invested 17 billion USD in the country since 2009. Last year, aroundhalf of all of Samsung’s high-end smartphones were made in Vietnam before beingshipped worldwide.

However, the survey pointedto significant challenges facing the Vietnamese Government in sustainingeconomic growth amid increasing public debt and tight State budget. The year2018 is when the country begins to realise its commitments under 16 free tradeagreements, which will result in zero tariffs for a range of products, directlyaffecting its budget collection.